Hosiery



April 1944- E. w. BOEDEKER 2,347,457

HOSIERY Filed Feb. 4, 1942 INVENTOR. ()de/(c /1 BY v Quiz;

Patented Apr. 25, 1944 nosmnr Edward W. Boedeker, Fort Wayne, Ind., asslgnor I tlllflfllty per cent to Henry J. Herbst, Fort Wayne.

Application February 4, 194a, Serial No. 429,455 1 Claim. (01. 66-187) This invention pertains to stockings and more particularly to a woman's stocking formed by a single operation, said stocking to be of any knitted texture such as a smooth, regular knit, mesh, non-run, etc.

In knitting stockings it has been usual to knit the leg portion of the stocking in one operation on a conventional leg knitting machine, the leg oi the stocking being knitted substantially flat, the edges which ultimately are sewn together to iorm the back seam bein'g suitably shaped in the well known manner on said machines. The leg portion is also formed on said machine providing depending heel portions or tabs so that the stocking at this point in its formation is substantially U shaped when placed in flattened condition.

Having formed this portion of the stocking, it is then necessary to put the article on a footer to form the sole, instep and toe portions. It will thus be appreciated that it is necessary to accurately place on the footer the portion of the stocking completed during the first step. Oth-' erwise, there is adanger that there will be a. mismatching of the. contours of the heel and sole reenforcements, causing an unsightly foot. Further it is necessary that the adjustment of the lesser and footer be the same, or there will be a difierence in the character of the knitting in the leg and foot causing the above referred to shading.

In completing this type of stocking, it is nec= essary to loop or close the toe and heel. It is then necessary, as a distinct step, to seam the sole (between the toe and heel) and then, as a final step, the leg is seamed. With this type of stocking there is the additional danger that the heel will be ill-fitting, that there will be projections or ears at each side of the heel where it is looped, and further, that there will be a thickened seam where the looping and the seams join. Not only that, but with this type of stocking it is difllcult to obtain a symmetrical contour on the upper edge of the high-splicing of the heel, for example, where the upper edge is designed to be absolutely perpendicular to the seam. In such type of stocking, when completed, there is the danger that this edge will be angularly disposed with respect to the seam, and, as a matter of fact, it is rarely of proper design contour. In completing this type of stocking it will additionally be appreciated that, inasmuch as the toe and heel are looped prior to the seaming (and the seaming and looping are done on different machines), it is necessary for the seaming operation to remove the stocking from the seaming gauge after one seam has been put in the foot and then reinsert the stocking in the seaming gauge for forming the final seam in the leg. This multiplicity of operations makes for slower production and increases the chances for mistakes in the final completion, and further increases the opportunity for damage to the stocking due to the number of times the stocking must be handled. In this type of stocking it is also 'to be kept in mind that in the completed garment the wales in the leg and heel are substantially coextensive. The wales in the instep portion substantially tollow the instep. but the wales in the sole and toe are substantially at right angles to the wales in the leg and heel, particularly in a woman's stocking, and the contour of the foot is not followed, nor can the heel pocket be accurately formed, so that there is the danger of bunching of the material under the heel, which is not only unsightly, but uncomfortable.

Attemptshave been made to form a stocking aby a single operation. By single operation" is meant the complete forg oi the stocking on a single machine without the necessity at any time of removing the stocking from the machine. from the-start of the leg portion to the completion of the toe portion. However, such one operation stockings have required special machines or expensive operations. In order to form certain operation stockings, a multiplicity of narrowing fingers is required which, in the completed stocking, causes the wales in the heels to run in a plurality of directions, thereby afiecting the fit of the heel. Due to the multiplicity of narrowing fingers necessary on the'knitting machine, it is necessary to employ complicated mechanism for eflecting the operation of said,

fingers which, of course, is expensive.

In another type of single operation stocking, the heel pocket is formed by progressively rendering the outer needles inoperative, that is, the successive dropping of stitches. This, of course, is objectionable in that there is a danger of runs taking place from the heel seam, unless all oi the stitches are accurately and correctly located,

and further, diiliculty is encountered in properly forming the top contour of the heel. Not infrequently the top of said contour takes the formation of a flattened V instead of a horizontal straight line. Also, in this type of stocking it is to be noted that the wales in the heel sweep around the contour of the heel, which prevents proper fitting.

In the finishing of the stocking in accordance with the herein contemplated method, the above objections are eliminated. The stocking is made on a single machine utilizing a relatively inexpensive means for forming the heel of the stocking. The wales in the leg and heel are coextensive and the sole wales are disposed substantially at an angle or 60 degrees to the wales oi said heel. Thus the completed stocking more accurately follows the contour of the foot and more accurately snugly fits the .oot so that there is no objectionable or uncomfortable bunching of the material under the heel or at any other place. The configuration of the heel can be accurately determined so that the upper line of the heel is exact, that is, it is exactly in line and perpendic ular to the seam, and there can be, of course, no mismatching of any of the parts or the stocking as it is completely made on a single machine, and thus there is no danger of a difierence in the knitting, nor is there a chance that there will be a difference in the material, as may happen as above pointed out in the case of the conventional stocking.

In addition to this, in completing the stocking, a single machine may be used in a continuous operation for forming the seam in both the leg and foot, thus eliminating the above referred to looping operations at the heel. This, of course, not only makes for less handling of the stocking, but permits the speeding up of the seaming operations, as there is no discontinuing of one seaming step and continuing of another seaming step, as is necessary as above explained with respect to the first referred to process.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a single operation stocking which can be knitted on a single machine.

Another object is to provide a single operation stocking of any knitted texture such as a smooth regular knit, mesh, non-run, etc.

Still another object is to provide a single operation stocking which closely fits the foot in which the wales of the foot are disposed at an angle other than 90 degrees to those in the heel.

Yet another object is to provide a single operation stocking where the foot and leg seams are continuous and uninterrupted.

A further object is to provide a single operation stocking which can be knit on conventional machines now in use with only the addition of a relatively inexpensive control means therefor.

A yet further object is to provide a single operation stocking where the wales in the foot are disposed at an angle of substantially 60 degrees more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claim appended hereto.

In the drawing, which illustrates an embodiment of the invention, and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Flgure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the stocking foot, heel and a portion of the leg showing, in a somewhat diagrammatic manner, the disposition of the wales, the spacing of said wales being exaggerated for the sake of clearness; and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the foot, heel and leg portion of the stocking shown in Figure 1 after looping of the toe and seaming of the foot, heel and leg.

In the formation of the herein contemplated stocking, or the method of making said stocking, the top, leg l0 and high splicing I! (which defines the start of the reinforcing carried through the heel, sole and toe) are knitted down to the start of the heel H, at which point there is a widening caused by a controlled outward movement of the narrowing fingers of the knitting machine. It is understood that two narrowing fingers are used'on each knitting head, said head knitting a single stocking. These narrowing fingers are substantially wider than the narrowing fingers usually used for knitting the conventional type stocking above described, in certain cases being over twice as wide. For example, in certain known machines the conventional nar-. rowing fingers used are substantially 7 in. wide, and the narrowing fingers contemplated for use in forming the stocking herein described are made substantially 2 in. wide. By the use of such wider narrowing fingers a deeper and better fitting heel pocket is formed.- The above narrowting of the wearer's heel.

Another further object is to provide a stock- I ing wherein a widening operation takes place over the entire heel by controlled operation of the narrowing fingers and carriers of the knitting machine.

A difierent object is to provide a stocking which can be knitted ononly one machine, obviating the danger of mismatching.

Another different object is to provide a single operation stocking wherein a perfectly smooth and close fitting heel is attained and one which may be completed by a minimum of handling operations, 1. e., it is only necessary to loop the toe and sew the remainder of the stocking.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as. will be ing finger proportions are, of course, only by way of example, as different sizes of narrowing fingers may be used.

The widening takes place for the entire length of the heel, the operation of the narrowing fingers forming a diagonal marking line Hi, this marking or gore line being obtained by the widening out process at definite intervals, resembles the marking or gore line in the conventional type stocking knitted on two machines, but permits a stocking of better fit to be made. This marking line or gore is recognized as appearing to be adjacent diagonally aligned apertures or holes which are of course larger than the spaces formed in the knitted portion of the stocking. These holes are caused by the outward movement of the narrowing fingers of the knitting machine over a distance equal to one needle spacing. At the same time the carriers are moved over the distance of two needle spacings, it being understood that the narrowing fingers are moved first a distance equal to that between two adjacent needles (termed one needle spacing), but, in order to keep the outside wales in unbroken alignment, 1. e. prevent discontinuance of the wales, which would happen if the fingers didnt catch up to the carriers, the fingers are thereafter moved an additional distance equal to one needle spacing (to thereby move the narrowing fingers a distance equal to that moved by the carriers) after the carriers have moved through one or more courses, that is, have moved laterally through a, complete stroke, or course.

, This causes the marking line l6 to be parallel to the edge of the stocking. As has been above 1 pointed out, this operation is completed for the entire length of the heel, and at the time that the heel is completed, the narrowing fingers are no longer moved outwardly. By entire length of the heel in the sense used herein is meant to the point atwhich the narrowing starts,

though it is seen that what is here the heel does not itself form the complete heel pocket (Figure 2). Thus the gore l6 extends only for the length of the heel and terminates when the narrowing begins. Thereafter the narrowing fingers are controlled in the usual manner by the machine to move continually to form the remainder of the heel pocket l8 and the remainder of the foot portion 20. Thus the heel pocket is formed by the widening as described above, for the heel length and then the narrowing which takes place from the heel, the heel pocket so formed by the heel and the narrowing portion merging into the foot portion.

In Figures 1 and 2, the wales 22 of the knitted stocking are shown greatly exaggerated. It will be seen that the wales 22 in the leg are sub-' stantially straight, except at the usual shaped portion of the stocking where narrowing occurs adjacent the rear seam, at which narrowing certain wales terminate at 32. As the stocking is knitted on a single machine, there is no matching of the threads or readjustment of the machine necessary when the heel is started, and further the line 24 defining the start of the high splicing is readily made straight, that is, the parts on each side of the stocking (Figure 1) may be readily matched so that a proper contour or design of the high splicing and heel can be easily had. In the case shown, the lower portion of the high splicing merges with the start of the heel (that is, the heel in effect is a continuation thereof) and the reinforcing started with the high splicing continues into the heel, sole and toe. Additionally, the contour of this reinforcing extends inwardly of the start or upper end (as viewed in Figure 2) of the marking line or gore l6. Certain of the wales adjacent the edge of the stocking will follow the foot portion as shown at 26, while others of course will terminate at 32 (caused by the narrowing), but a proper contour or shape is attained. The wales 30 which in effect originate at the marking line l6 are disposed at an angle of substantially 60 degrees to the marking line, or to the wales 22, so that they more closely simulate the shape of the heel, and no unsightly or uncomfortable ears project at the heel. Some of the wales 38 will of courseterminate at 32, as the stocking is shaped, the narrowing taking place at the upper end of the line 32, said line being somewhat similar i appearance to the gore [6, said upper end being opposite the lower end of the gore, but others of said diagonal wales will follow the shape of the foot terminating at 34 as the toe is shaped. The toe is finally terminated at 36, as illustrated in Figure 1, and the stocking now can be completed by looping the toe as at 36 (Figure 2) on a single machine. Thereafter the edges 38 and 40 can readily be placed together, and only a single seaming operation is then necessary of the remainder of the foot around the heel and up the leg to the top of the stocking, the seaming originating at the looped portion 36.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the process shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claim.

I claim:

A stocking comprising a leg portion, a heel portion, a foot portion, and high splicing above said heel portion, the stocking being so constructed that certain of the marginal wales a predetermined distance from the edge extend continuously down the leg portion, around the heel portion and the length of the foot portion, the heel portion and high splicing being knitted with a reenforcing thread, the heel portion being widened for the length of said heel portion whereby a gore line is formed inwardly of the heel edge,

such gore line being formed of aligned apertures for the length of the heel portion but 'said marginal wales at the edge are continuous from-the leg portion into the heel portion for the length of the heel, said gore line of apertures being equidistant from the heel edge whereby the same number of wales are between the heel edge and gore line for the length of said gore line, said gore line terminating at a. point preceding the course where the narrowing of the heel pocket begins, the reenforcing thread of said heel and a portion of the high splicing adjacent the gore extending inwardly of the gore line for strengthening said gore line.

EDWARD W. BOEDEKER. 

